Saturday 4 February 2012

'fessing up and moving on

So you may remember that a few months ago I was all excited about having signed up for the Sketchbook Project 2012? Well, it's time to admit it: the 31st Jan deadline came and went and my unfinished little book stayed hidden away.
I think I knew when I found myself hurriedly painting the cover entirely black one evening that something wasn't quite right. But what went wrong? Well, it was partly to do with time: making all those homemade Christmas gifts took up a lot of evenings!
But we all know that with determination there's usually a way to free up a little time somewhere, somehow. Deep down I think the real reason is that I was scared. I'd look at what I'd done and think, "who is going to want to look at this?" I'd imagine all kinds of negative reactions. I saw some things that other people were doing and thought, "they are amazing, I'm just not up to it!"
Basically I talked myself out of it! Now, I'm not one to say that positive thinking can fix everything. There are a LOT of things that positive thinking cannot fix, in my view (try child poverty, for example)! But this is a classic case of negative thinking and fear taking over. When it comes to any kind of creative activity, you do need a good dose of positive thinking.

You need to believe that what you make will be worth it (for whatever reason) and your creativity is worth expressing, and you need to be kind to the emerging artist in yourself, especially if he or she has been pretty much hidden away since schooldays!

Ooops, I think I need to change that last sentence replacing all the "you"s with "I"!!

So, call me crazy, but I'm trying again. I already have my sketchbook for the next project, and I've already started on it! This time there will be a limit of 5000 artists participating in a book and the usual exhibition in the Brooklyn Art Library (there are still spaces available people!)
Can you make out the theme there? It's called 'why did the owl make everyone laugh?' I don't know the answer to that question yet, but I'm determined not let fear and negativity paralyse my creativity. So I started by incorporating that uncertainty into my first page.
I am that owl, so afraid everyone will laugh at me! But who cares? Let that be a source of inspiration in itself! To be continued...
Photobucket
Linking up with Claire today :)

you may also like

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...